Press

Salem, Mass. - One of PEM's most popular exhibitions will be closing on Sunday, June 8, 2008. Origami Now! features over 60 works by 24 of the world's foremost contemporary origami artists.

Since it opened in June 2007, the exhibition has drawn over 100,000 visitors to the museum's Art & Nature Center, making it the center's most visited show to date. It has also received the highest visitor satisfaction ratings of any PEM exhibition since the museum began tracking guests' responses.

The exhibition's Web site, www.pem.org/origami, has set a record for online traffic at a PEM microsite; the step-by-step video guide to folding seven origami designs has spread around the blogosphere and Web among origami enthusiasts and amateurs alike.

With representations of animals, insects and flowers, plus portraits and abstract forms, Origami Now! reveals the diversity of techniques and interpretations in contemporary origami. Origami Now! features interactive stations where visitors of all ages make origami, play with moveable "action" origami, and discover the processes used to make these intricate creations.

Origami Now! explores the techniques developed by this evolving art form and highlights origami's influence on other disciplines, including design, technology, medicine and mathematics. The exhibition is curated by PEM's Art & Nature Center director, Jane Winchell, with noted origami artist Michael LaFosse serving as exhibition adviser.

Origami Now! is sponsored by Comcast. Additional support is provided by Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations (ECHO), administered by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement.